Astronomical Data Visualization at NYU

Color representation of multi-band imaging

Modern astronomical images generally have far more dynamic range
than can be represented by any reasonable output device, including
computer displays and printers. We have developed a method for
representing the images that displays a large dynamic range and
preserves color information, even in saturated parts of the
image.

download

The Makefile downloads a tiny bit of code and a few test images
from NYU. Most of the code that it downloads has nothing to do
with visualization but is just an IDL FITS reader. It then builds
a pretty picture called “hdf_wherry.jpg” in the
working directory. The code
“make_hdf_jpeg.pro”
is the documentation. It is not complex.